The exhibition opened in the Holy Week of 2006 drew huge audiences to the International Cultural Centre Gallery. Jointly organised with the Scientific Library of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Polish Academy of Sciences in Krakow, the exhibition was the fifth in a series of displays of unique prints from the collection of the Print Room.

It offered an overview of iconographic images of the original sin as well as the deadly sins: Pride, Avarice, Lust, Envy, Gluttony, Wrath, and Sloth. The invention of print led to the spread and development of their iconography which resulted in sophisticated allegorical presentations.

The exhibition comprised 125 prints covering the period from the end of the 15th century to the 19th century and included the copperplate engravings by Albrecht Dürer, Lucas Cranach, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, as well as impressive compositions by Peter Paul Rubens, Rembrandt van Rijn and David Teners. The highlights of the exhibition were the etchings by Rembrandt’s competitors: the French artist Jacques Callot and the Czech master Vaclav Hollar as well as the 18th century Italian and English prints, the works of William Hogarth and Richard Earlome among them.

The exhibition deserves recognition for one more reason as it reminds us of the great richness of prints from the Print Room of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences in Krakow. The exhibition comprises 125 works by such masters as Albrecht Dürer, Lucas Cranach, Rembrandt van Rijn or Peter Paul Rubens. Let us, then, enjoy these beautiful prints and, on the side, examine our conscience. [Piotr Sarzyński, “Polityka”, April 4, 2004]